Ahead of the Martin Luther King holiday, military officials this week yanked an offensive flyer that featured an image of the slain civil rights leader on an advertisement for a “fun shoot” at a Georgia Air Force base, reports theAJC.

An official at the base’s Outdoor Recreation office said the flyer was created by a marketing team–not the military–to advertise a noon gathering on the holiday on Monday, Jan. 18 for the Robins Air Force Base and Skeet Club.

A statement released by the base described the flyer as an “honest mistake.”

We’re deeply sorry for any offense or harm caused by our insensitivity and failure to provide appropriate oversight of our marketing process. The flyer does not represent the values, opinions or views of the Department of Defense, the Air Force or Robins Air Force Base leadership and its employees.

We realized the inappropriateness of the advertisement several days ago and immediately began removing the flyer. There was no malice of forethought in the flyer’s creation and it was never the base’s intention to portray Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., in a negative light. It was an honest mistake, to which we’ve personally counseled the parties involvedand will provide them with remedial training and appropriate oversight to prevent this sort of inattention from occurring in the future.

Again, we offer our heartfelt apology to those affected by our thoughtlessness. We hold the legacy of Dr. King in the highest regard.

Is institutional racism so deeply entrenched that “marketers” would fail to recognize the poster as offensive?